Useful Astro Links

Link	Details
Societies
Royal Astronomical Society	The 'Astronomical Society of London' was conceived on 12 January 1820 when 14 gentlemen sat down to dinner at the Freemason's Tavern, in Lincoln's Inn Fields, London. After an unusually short gestation the new Society was born on 10 March 1820 with the first meeting of the Council and the Society as a whole. The original objectives were simply the promotion of astronomy; the newer subject of geophysics.
British Astronomical Association	Formed in 1890, the British Astronomical Association has an international reputation for the quality of its observational and scientific work. Membership is open to all persons interested in astronomy.
Society for Popular Astronomy	The SPA is for everyone. We've members of all ages and with different levels of experience. But we're especially focused on helping the beginner. So don't feel intimidated or worry that it's all over your head. We aim to make stargazing fun! Take a look round our site for inspiration about how the SPA can help YOU with your own astronomy. Don't just take our word for it. Click on the words above Society logo to discover why Brian Cox recommends you join Britain's brightest astronomical society!
Federation of Astronomical Societies	Formed in 1974, the Federation of Astronomical Societies was conceived as a sort of union of astronomical societies, groups, and individuals, liasing together, where practicable, for their mutual benefit. A list of federation aims was drawn up which included such items as the compilation of lists of people prepared to give talks, the encouragement of the teaching of astronomy in educational establishments, the giving of advice on problems commonly encountered by astronomical societies, and so on.
Southern Area Group of Astronomical Societies.	SAGAS was established in 1973 to provide a forum where Astronomical Societies across the South of England can meet to share ideas as well as discuss issues and concerns of mutual interest. By sharing ideas and experiences societies are able to inform, support and inspire each other, and further the astronomical interests of their own members.
European Space Agency	The European Space Agency (ESA) is Europe’s gateway to space. Its mission is to shape the development of Europe’s space capability and ensure that investment in space continues to deliver benefits to the citizens of Europe and the world.
N A S A	The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) is the United States government agency responsible for the civilian space program as well as aeronautics and aerospace research.

Software
Drivers: ASCOM Standards	This is the home of the ASCOM Initiative, a loosely-knit group of astronomy software developers and astronomy device manufacturers devoted to vendor-independent plug-and-play control. ASCOM is a many-to-many and language-independent architecture, supported by most astronomy devices which connect to Windows computers.
Drivers: EQMOD Project	The EQMOD project consists of a suite of open source applications that can provide an alternative to the hand controller on supported German Equatorial Mounts.
Planetarium: Stellarium (Free s/w)	Stellarium is a free open source planetarium for your computer. It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set your coordinates and go.
Planetarium: The Sky, Bisque Inc	Professional standard planetarium software with telescope control. A very comprehensive package with various levels of features and expense.
Observatory, Telescope & Camera Control: MaximDL	MaxIm DL is the complete integrated solution for all of your astronomical imaging needs. Whether you are collecting and analyzing science data or making beautiful portraits of the night sky, MaxIm DL includes all the tools you need.
Telescope & Camera Control: SGPro	Sequence Generator Pro - Manage your imaging run using equipment profiles. Stay in focus. Control of meridian flip during imaging. Target framing, plate solving, complex mosaic sequences & much more. Plus a free 45 day evaluation period & free "lite" version.
Guiding: PHD2 (Free s/w)	PHD2 is telescope guiding software that simplifies the process of tracking a guide star, letting you concentrate on other aspects of deep-sky imaging or spectroscopy.
Focusing: Focus Max	FocusMax was designed to aid astronomers in the difficult task of focusing CCD-based telescopes. FocusMax is routinely used worldwide with unattended, all-night robotic-telescope operations including, asteroid and supernova searches, astrometry, photometry, astro- imaging, and more. With the availability of motorized focusing hardware, astronomers now have the opportunity to fully automate their focusing operation.
Image Processing: RegiStax (Free s/w)	Registax software for alignment/stacking & processing of images.
Image Processing: Deep Sky Stacker (Free s/w)	DeepSkyStacker is a freeware for astrophotographers that simplifies all the pre-processing steps of deep sky pictures. Registering, stacking, & simple post-stacking processes to quickly view the final result. Saving the resulting image to a TIFF or FITS file (16 or 32 bit). (Now (2018) Open source & being rewritten for 32 & 64 OS see download page) After a shooting night you give all your pictures (light frames, darks frames, offset/bias frames, flat frames) to DeepSkyStacker and you go to bed. The next morning (or is it afternoon?) you can see the result and start post-processing.
Image Processing: Adobe Photoshop	Photoshop is a sophisticated image processing package that is widely used. It is also used for astronomical image processing with great effect, there are plugins specifically for astro imaging.
Image Processing: PixInsight	PixInsight is an advanced image processing software platform. It has been designed specifically for astrophotography and other technical imaging fields. PixInsight is a modular, open-architecture system where the entire processing and file handling capabilities are implemented as external installable modules.
Autostakkert	Free software to stack images captured via webcam type CCDs (AVI, MOV etc)
Backyard EOS & Nikon	DSLR camera control for Canon & Nikon brands - Backyard EOS & Backyard Nikon. Free trial available, from Guylain Rochon in Ottawa, Canada
Astro Photography Tool. Control software	Camera control software. From DSLR to CCD. Plus ASCOM telescope & filter wheel control. With free trial
AstroArt Camera control & processing software	Complete software package for astrophotography: image processing, astrometry, photometry, camera and telescope control. Limited free trial available
Astro Pixel Processor. - processing software	A new (2017) software package for astrophotography image processing. Very comprehensive preprocessing including registration, normalization, integration, calibration & mosaicing of images. Video tutorials on the website from the author & Sara Wager. 30 day free trial available.
CCD Ware. - Control & Processing software	A modular software suite that will navigate to target & automate imaging. Allow correction of mount periodic error. Control focusers, check images for sharpness & tilt defects. Plus image processing. 30 & 60 day free trial available.

Hardware
Telescopes & Accessories: Celestron	Celestron: manufacture's web site. A very comprensive range of telescopes, mounts and accessories.
Telescopes & Accessories: Meade Instruments UK	Meade Instruments: manufacture's web site. A very comprensive range of telescopes, mounts and accessories.
Telescopes & Accessories: Sky-Watcher	Sky-Watcher: manufacture's web site. A very comprensive range of telescopes, mounts and accessories.

Websites
Heavens-Above	A very useful website that shows the stuff wizzing around above us. Update your location (top right of web page) to get an accurate view.
Clear Outside	Enter your location as a town or postcode to see what the forthcoming week looks like for observing.
Sat24 weather view	A 24 hour satellite view of the clouds
Space Weather	Current space conditions generated by our Sun. Aurora alerts & photos. A free site
Satellite Tracking	A free to register satellite tracking website
Field of View Calculator	Various free astronomy calculators from FLO

Tutorials
Photographing Space	A series of tutorials to help you capture the universe

Getting Started
Backyard Astronomy Basics	A basic guide to get you started in astronomy

Information Documents
USB information	Some USB pitfalls highlighted by Nick Tanton
CfDS Good Lighting Guide	Lighting Guidelines from the Commission for Dark Skies